😾 *Please do not let in the cat*

November 30, 2017 11:48 AM

His name is Max. Max is Nice.

His owner does not want Max in the Library.
We do not want Max in the Library.

Max wants to be in the Library.

Please do not let Max in the Library.

[via]
posted by not_on_display (67 comments total)

Very cute. Max, stay home where you are safe!
posted by agregoli at 11:53 AM on November 30, 2017 [4 favorites]

I have finally found a version of "there are two kinds of people" that I actually agree with - you're either with Max, or against Max. #teammax
posted by notorious medium at 11:59 AM on November 30, 2017 [24 favorites]

Christ, he's just trying to meet his Bar study group. Give Max a break.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:59 AM on November 30, 2017 [24 favorites]

LET MAX LEARN
posted by halation at 12:00 PM on November 30, 2017 [51 favorites]

Max has been inside the library for the past three hours now.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:02 PM on November 30, 2017 [11 favorites]

Max is on a curiosity voyage. Please don't take away his paddles.
posted by zamboni at 12:02 PM on November 30, 2017 [69 favorites]

(Note: I fully endorse Max being in the library. I do not endorse cats roaming about because I fear for their lives. In my dreams, Max would be lovingly brought to, and accepted by, libraries around the world).
posted by agregoli at 12:03 PM on November 30, 2017 [12 favorites]

ma nam is max
is plain to see
mah favrit place
the library

i sneak to it
cross fields and brooks
and wen im in
i lik the books
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:04 PM on November 30, 2017 [230 favorites]

Max's instagram features some adorable artwork and poetry featuring Max and the library.
posted by amarynth at 12:06 PM on November 30, 2017 [3 favorites]

I was expecting a game, but I love this even more.

We have a sign on our front door similar to this (Don't Let the Cat Out, with a little dismayed cat face), and every Halloween, we listen inside the door, as each child who comes up to knock on the door reads the sign aloud (hesitatingly, adorably) and tries to decide if it's a joke for Halloween or if it's just a sign about the regular cat.
posted by LobsterMitten at 12:07 PM on November 30, 2017 [14 favorites]

If you're interested in seeing some cats that ARE allowed in libraries, check out this previously from 2014.

Poor Max. He just wants to learn.
posted by Elly Vortex at 12:09 PM on November 30, 2017 [4 favorites]

Well, I guess libraries aren't for everyone.
posted by Kitteh at 12:11 PM on November 30, 2017 [27 favorites]

Well, I guess libraries aren't for everyone.
posted by Kitteh at 3:11 PM on November 30 [+] [!]

epurristerical
posted by notorious medium at 12:12 PM on November 30, 2017 [43 favorites]

I was also expecting a game. For libraries that do have cats, are people with allergies just SOL? I mean, I can understand a store, but a library is a public accomodation...
posted by rikschell at 12:14 PM on November 30, 2017 [10 favorites]

We regret to inform you...
posted by stevil at 12:19 PM on November 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

I saw this Twitstream yesterday, and one of the respondents contributed a sweet option for the story:

Max tries to get in and getting kicked out. A little boy comes in, Max comes in behind him, and gets kicked out again. The boy sees. And then the story ends with the boy checking out a book, leaving the library, and finding Max and sitting down to read him a story.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:22 PM on November 30, 2017 [40 favorites]

Aah! My library moved buildings recently and I'm worried about the cat who used to wait at the front door of the old building until they opened in the morning. Where will he get his reading material now?
posted by paduasoy at 12:22 PM on November 30, 2017 [5 favorites]

When I was 12, my corgi mix, Tony, used to follow me when I rode my bike to the little groceries store in the middle of our 700-person town to pick up stuff for dinner. Then he'd hang out by the entrance, mugging winsomely, and body-check his way in whenever anyone opened the door.

Being twelve, I found it super stressful and embarrassing. The clerks and the owner/butcher/mayor, on the other hand, thought it was hilarious, and figured that even though it happened multiple times per week, it was probably okay, health department-wise, as long as I always made a good-faith effort to catch him.

RIP Tony. You were the best reverse-escape artist the Manassa Market ever knew.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 12:23 PM on November 30, 2017 [32 favorites]

I love the security cam still in Max’ IG. It’s the “shit, I’ve been spotted” moment.
posted by not_the_water at 12:30 PM on November 30, 2017 [6 favorites]

[via]

I'm pretty sure that's a bannin'.
posted by bondcliff at 12:31 PM on November 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

The owner mentions in the Instagram feed that Max is now permanently indoors (or "grounded"), so no worries about further wandering, in or out of libraries.

I'm a cat person, so am always pleased to chum around with cats in libraries and/or bookstores. That being said, the man who took over O'Gara & Wilson in Chicago (still extant, now moved to Indiana) told me that he had to put his foot down about the two resident Persians when one of them did something unmentionable to an expensive rare book.
posted by thomas j wise at 12:35 PM on November 30, 2017 [4 favorites]

Better the library than a street corner.
posted by Alexandra Kitty at 12:40 PM on November 30, 2017 [6 favorites]

I went to Macalester (where this happened) and lived in the dorm next to the library and had an illegal black cat. I think another roommate adopted the cat and he lived a happy cat life, but I don't actually know. Maybe it's the same cat.
posted by miyabo at 12:50 PM on November 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

This is not Max, but this is a local cat that likes to hang out at the co-op supermarket:

"There's a cat that hangs out at the co-op. Wants affection and food, but has a secret."

Yesterday's moment.

Cat. Cat, no.
posted by Katemonkey at 12:53 PM on November 30, 2017 [16 favorites]

For libraries that do have cats, are people with allergies just SOL? I mean, I can understand a store, but a library is a public accomodation...

This is actually one of the reasons why Max is not allowed in the library and why you don't see a lot more cats in libraries, because you're right, people with allergies deserve to use public libraries more than cats (sorry Max!) I made a little explainer over on the Reddit thread (shut up) with links to pertinent details about the Max saga.

[via]

It's not my cat!
posted by jessamyn at 12:54 PM on November 30, 2017 [26 favorites]

For libraries that do have cats, are people with allergies just SOL? I mean, I can understand a store, but a library is a public accomodation...

I think it depends on a lot of factors. Speaking strictly for myself as someone who has cat allergies, I'm usually ok as long as I don't come in direct contact with the cat and the space itself is regularly cleaned to avoid buildup of dander in the air. Most libraries probably meet the latter requirement just fine.

That said, I'm sure there are people with more severe allergies than my own, and permitting a cat to hang around would definitely impact their ability to use the library. Don't let Max into the library.
posted by tobascodagama at 12:56 PM on November 30, 2017 [3 favorites]

I think your comment got deleted for breaking the circlejerk, jessamyn. :(
posted by tobascodagama at 12:57 PM on November 30, 2017

Oh, he's a ginger! They're gonna try to tell a GINGER CAT where he can and can't go? I applaud your fine intentions, but good flippin' luck, folks.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:58 PM on November 30, 2017 [10 favorites]

I think your comment got deleted for breaking the circlejerk

See, I am too old for Reddit. I click that link and I see my comment. Have I been hellbanned from Reddit? Can someone tech support me?
posted by jessamyn at 12:59 PM on November 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

This is actually one of the reasons why Max is not allowed in the library and why you don't see a lot more cats in libraries, because you're right, people with allergies deserve to use public libraries more than cats (sorry Max!) I made a little explainer over on the Reddit thread (shut up) with links to pertinent details about the Max saga.



Was it deleted?


"you are viewing a single comment's thread.
view the rest of the comments →
there doesn't seem to be anything here"
posted by Carillon at 1:02 PM on November 30, 2017

See, I am too old for Reddit. I click that link and I see my comment. Have I been hellbanned from Reddit? Can someone tech support me?

I can see the comment if I go to your user page, but I can't see it on the thread. Looks like you've been shadowbanned from /r/funny or something. You'll have to contact the mods to get that sorted out, I think.
posted by tobascodagama at 1:03 PM on November 30, 2017

Oh, huh. In the meantime, I transpose.... for [citation needed] folks

- this is Macalester College
- Max is real, real handsome
- this poster was designed by this guy
- cat logo designed by this woman from Noun Project
- Here is Max on his owners instagram

I can see that comment on my profile page!
posted by jessamyn at 1:03 PM on November 30, 2017 [13 favorites]

/would probably consider lettubg Max in.
posted by Artw at 1:07 PM on November 30, 2017 [3 favorites]

Max actually looks a lot like Peoples, a cat that hangs out in a bar I often drink at. Usually he will just wander in off the street, and flop down on someone's table, looking for some attention. Sometimes the door will be closed, and you'll look over and just see his eyes and hears peeking up over the bottom edge of the window.


I haven't seen Peoples recently, but I think his parents grounded him for hanging out in bars.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 1:08 PM on November 30, 2017 [10 favorites]

My friend Rebecca took this photo! I can't wait to tell her she's MeFi famous, right after I tell her what that is.
posted by heurtebise at 1:21 PM on November 30, 2017 [17 favorites]

I live across the street from a library. One day a police car was parked out front. After sitting there for a while, it rolled away from the library, and into my driveway. The deputy rolled down the window and asked, "Is this your dog?"

Someone's unattended puppy had gotten into the library. It was not our dog. I never saw that dog before. But, hey, good dog. Good dog!

The deputy wandered off down the street, talking to other neighbors. Nice that he didn't just take it to the shelter.

A half hour or so later, after the cop had gone out of sight somewhere, a guy came walking down the sidewalk with an empty leash, peering around under the bushes and whistling. I let him know I had seen his dog, and the police had it after it had gone into the library.

I didn't know the guy, haven't seen him again. I hope he was able to retrieve the dog.

The library has automatic doors. Max could get in, as easily as any dog could.

More recently, I watched as a dog someone had left tied to the ashtray by the door, pulled the ashtray over and fled, screaming in terror, from the monster dragging behind it on the other end of the leash. People from the library came tearing out and rescued the dog.

Yesterday I saw a woman with a leashed dog go inside. She didn't go in for long, perhaps she was just returning things at the desk.

I see cats out front, sometimes, but never have I seen one of them go in, or get in any trouble.

The show I like best, is watching people catch Pokemon. They are there, outside the door.

Libraries are fun!
posted by elizilla at 1:32 PM on November 30, 2017 [10 favorites]

From Finn, a Human on Twitter in reply to the original tweet:

“Please do not let in the cat,”
the sign said. By the door he sat.
His name was Max, I read and learned.
“He’s nice,” but this cat hadn’t earned
the right to come inside and read.
Why could it be? What did he need?

Every time Max went inside,
librarians from far and wide
would chase him out and whisper “Shoo!”
His owner had forbade him too.
Poor cat. No human thought that he
belonged inside the library.

It seemed unjust to me that Max
was not allowed to browse the stacks!
So I set out to make it right,
with pen and paper, desk and light.
I filed the forms. It wasn’t hard.
And now Max has a library card.
posted by pharm at 1:33 PM on November 30, 2017 [34 favorites]

I had a cat who was a great wanderer. I didn't have much choice about letting him out, because I did not have air conditioning, and there was no screen he could not rip through or dislodge -- he even figured out how open the sliding windows if they were cracked for air, and those things were heavy. I lived next to campus, so he loved to visit all over. Including the day I came to class and he was sitting there, being admired by the other students. He had figured out how to con his way into the elevator.
posted by tavella at 2:06 PM on November 30, 2017 [10 favorites]

Max is from St Paul, MN? Is he pro- or anti-bikelane?
posted by nathan_teske at 2:12 PM on November 30, 2017 [3 favorites]

Max believes in cat lanes.
posted by miyabo at 2:16 PM on November 30, 2017 [7 favorites]

i can't help but feel that a cat lane, a lane designated specifically for cats, is literally the last place a cat would ever walk or be
posted by halation at 2:56 PM on November 30, 2017 [31 favorites]

it would have to be a tunnel made of cardboard boxes and there would have to be official cat lane workers whose job it is to tell cats not to go in the boxes.
posted by poffin boffin at 2:58 PM on November 30, 2017 [16 favorites]

Someone tell the developers of Untitled Goose Game (previously) to drop the goose theme and pivot into Get Max to the Stacks.
posted by JoeZydeco at 3:28 PM on November 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

Please do not let Max in the Library.

But.... Max wants to be in the Library.

(I don't get it. It says it right on the sign.)
posted by The Bellman at 3:41 PM on November 30, 2017 [5 favorites]

He just wants to use the card cat-alog.
posted by dr_dank at 3:42 PM on November 30, 2017 [6 favorites]

Let cats read!
We need a T shirt.
posted by SyraCarol at 3:55 PM on November 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

Get that cat a bodega!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 4:32 PM on November 30, 2017 [7 favorites]

I'm sure he's familiar with the Mewey Decimal System.
posted by Room 641-A at 5:01 PM on November 30, 2017 [8 favorites]

Am I the only one who thinks the wording on there sounds just like Hopkin Green Frog?

PS I'll find my frog
who took my frog

posted by tclark at 5:02 PM on November 30, 2017 [4 favorites]

> Am I the only one who thinks the wording on there sounds just like Hopkin Green Frog?

You are not; I came here to say exactly that. But MeFi has moved on, and this is the new(er) meme, as evidenced above.
posted by languagehat at 5:37 PM on November 30, 2017 [3 favorites]

Max fan art has a Twitter.
posted by jessamyn at 6:25 PM on November 30, 2017 [4 favorites]

This story is incredibly cute and exactly what I needed to read before bed.
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 7:05 PM on November 30, 2017

Am I the only one who thinks the wording on there sounds just like Hopkin Green Frog?

Something about the reversal of the last sentence sure tickles the hopkin parts of my brain. This is delightful!

Also, as a newcomer, I didn't realize hopkin was a metafilter thing. (Or, perhaps, that metafilter was a part of the hopkin thing.) Sadly, I fear hopkin may be among the last memes I truly understood. This must be what the olds warned me about. Now that the bucket walrus that wasn't a walrus is dead and hopkin is forgotten, all my internet hope rests with Max. You go, Max!
posted by eotvos at 7:34 PM on November 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

Sadly, I fear hopkin may be among the last memes I truly understood. This must be what the olds warned me about.

There will always be internet memes for old people.

Ask my mom; she emails one to me every day.
posted by not_on_display at 9:56 PM on November 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

A day late and a dollar short: why Max can't go in the library. Yeah, it's allergies. “Someone who works there is highly allergic to cats and they were also afraid he would be stuck inside and not be able to get out,” said Connie (aka, Max's hooman). Also, Max really likes the whole Macalester campus.
posted by vjpdx at 10:12 PM on November 30, 2017 [3 favorites]

fuckin' Max, not again
posted by ziggly at 10:27 PM on November 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

maybe max should be an indoor cat anyway
posted by Room 641-A at 11:01 PM on November 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

There was a cat over here that moved away from his house to live in the local park. His owner tried to keep him from leaving, but he just liked the park more. He lived quite a long time, but sadly died a few years ago (at the age of 18-19 I think so quite old for a cat).
posted by koolkat at 2:17 AM on December 1, 2017

What's up with Jessamyn and Reddit now? I came for the (un)library cat, but now I'm staying for the vicarious Reddit drama.
posted by Shepherd at 4:27 AM on December 1, 2017 [2 favorites]

I came here to post this Washington Post article about Max in which we learn that the guy who made the sign had just gotten back from paternity leave and wrote the sign as if he was telling a story to his daughter. Also: he and the original icon-maker are planning a kids book!

The Reddit thing was weird, I guess some bot auto-blocked my comment (?) maybe because it had a bunch of social media links which is technically Against the Rules. And when this happens, you can see your own comment on your profile page but no one else can see it. I messaged a few mods and one of them got back to me and unblocked it. I may edit it and add more links to it.
posted by jessamyn at 6:47 AM on December 1, 2017 [4 favorites]

Those who are cat-in-library-curious should visit the Abbott Memorial Library in Dexter, Maine, the home of Poppyseed. She is an excellent librarian-in-training, leaping onto shelves when she finds the book you need
posted by fitnr at 6:49 AM on December 1, 2017 [2 favorites]

Get that cat a bodega!

How about a distillery?
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:30 AM on December 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

Local paper Minneapolis Star Tribune is summarizing the coverage. Not sure if this counts as good local news or not.
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:59 AM on December 1, 2017

r/funny is absolutely swamped by people trying to game it, so it wouldn't be that surprising for a bot to auto delete Jessamyn’s comment. However, right now her comment is visible (to me at least) - it just doesn't have many up votes so it’s down the bottom in the murk below the 'more comments' link.
posted by pharm at 11:51 AM on December 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

I work in libraries and am super allergic to cats while loving them dearly, so I am way sympathetic to the Macalester staff member (library cats are great, until they’re not? Finals therapy dogs, man alive. The students love them so much, though, that I just bring my meds those days). That sign was a great way to handle it and I’m not surprised to see it coming from them.

Also, it’s not uncommon for our library to have a stray dog walk in the front door. Given that we’ve got eight floors, thousands of students at any one time, and millions of books, you’d think we wouldn’t be the most attractive place for a feral stray but you’d be wrong. Luckily we have a library staffer who rescues animals as a semi-pro hobby so there’s usually no problem catching the dogs and getting them checked by a vet. One colleague even adopted one of these dogs —it makes for a great story!
posted by librarylis at 3:57 PM on December 2, 2017

Maybe the job attracts a certain type, but all the distillery cats seem to have a certain delightful cockiness. I don't see any of *them* hanging out at the library!
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:11 AM on December 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

The owner mentions in the Instagram feed that Max is now permanently indoors (or "grounded")

How Ya Gonna Keep 'em Down on the Farm (After They've Seen the Library)?
posted by rhizome at 11:20 AM on December 4, 2017 [2 favorites]